“We’ll get through this.” I hold her face and kiss her. “We’ll get through this. That’s why I brought you here. I want a fresh start for us. I don’t want the memories in those places following us. We’ll keep going to our therapist, and we’ll work up to you going to see her. You’ll do it, and I’ll hold your hand through it. You’re doing the best you can, and I should have acknowledged that from the beginning. She’s not there. She’s here.” I place my hand on her heart. “She’s with you, sweet girl, and she’s with me.” I place her hand on my heart. “We’ll learn how to move on together.” A couple tears trail down her cheeks, so I take my thumbs and dry them. “I don’t deserve you, but I swear, Kylie, I will do everything in my power to get us where we need to be.”
“I love you,” she whispers. “Through all this, we’ve been screaming for her and each other. Our world broke, and I don’t think it’ll never be the same. But I don’t want to go back, Cooper. I never want to go back to what happened and what we became.”
“We won’t,” I exhale. “Never again. I promise you from this day forward that no matter what happens, I’ll always, always fight for you.” The tenderness behind her eyes, the sweetness behind her touch and the feel of her in my arms soothes every aching, oozing wound I have.
“I know you won’t,” she whispers. “Do you want to know how I know?”
I nod.
“Look at where we are. Look where you brought me. Do you know what this means to me? How this made me feel? You’ve brought me home. This was where we started.” She examines my face, really seeing me. There’s a lightness to her, an ethereal beauty that melts me. “Here… right here”—she pats the grass—“you asked me to be your girlfriend. It was right here that you made love me for the first time. God, do you remember the way that felt? The way you made me feel that day was indescribable. You asked me to be your wife here. Every good thing began here, and every private moment we’ve had was captured here. This is our spot. You’ve brought me back and offered me the world. You’re a wonderful man, and I love you with every fiber of who I am.”
“I love you too. More than anything in the world. I’m going to spend the rest of my life proving that love to you.”
“And I’m going to spend the rest of my life loving you the way you deserve. I’m sorry for hurting you, for being selfish and taking things into my own hands. I’m sorry I left you without thinking about what I was doing. I acted like an immature brat, and I’ve done some pretty despicable things to you. I know you never wanted to open our marriage. I forced that on you. I’m so sorry, baby. I’m sorry for everything.”
“Me too, sweet girl. Let’s make a promise to each other.”
“Okay.” Her blue eyes twinkle in the moonlight and lanterns, glisten against her creamy skin, stirring every ounce of my body.
“Let’s promise that there’ll be no more ‘I’m sorrys’ over what’s already been done. From this moment on, we’ll look forward and tackle things day by day, together, getting the help we need along the way. I forgive you, Kylie. Your mistakes don’t reflect on what I think of you. I know your heart. I know who you are. I hope someday you can let this go and forgive yourself, and then forgive me for not being the man I promised you I would be.”
“I’ve already forgiven you,” she whispers.
I look at this beautiful, magnetic and captivating woman that owns my soul and know that I would lay down my life for her. I would walk through hell, again and again to be the man she deserves.
“Thank you.”
“So we’re building a home here,” she says, her eyes widening with delight.
“If you want to.”
“Yes, I want to. When can we start?”
I laugh. That’s her. That’s exactly who she is, an impatient, shopping obsessed, sexy, tell it like it is, loving, strong-willed spitfire. “I guess we’ll start tomorrow. I think we need to get the new house built before we list our home. I’m going to go ahead and put the lake house on the market, though.”
Her face glazes over with sadness. “I’ll miss that house.”
“Me too,” I whisper, “but there are so many better memories ahead of us.”
“Mmm… like what?” she asks, her body turning to putty in my arms as she straddles me.
I lick my lips and look at her, trying to hold back from laying her on the grass and ravishing her. She looks edible. “Do you have my present on under that little black dress that’s riding up right now?”
She pulls back and flips her eyes to my mouth. “I’m not sure. I might.”
“You might?”
“I think you’re going to have to open me up and take a look.”
I groan, feeling my body hum from the heat seeping off her skin. “Champagne first.”
A seductive smile takes over her face. “Are you holding out on me, Mr. Bailey?”
“I’m trying to be a good boy tonight and just spend time with you,” I mutter. “It’s not working. You look so damn good all I can think about is getting under that dress. Did you get this today?” I run my fingers across the swell of her breasts.
Her throat bobs as she swallows and goose bumps pepper her arms. “No, but what’s underneath it is new,” she purrs.
I move my eyes from her breasts to her face, sliding my hands up her smooth thighs. “You’re torturing me.”
“You’re torturing yourself. I’m ready to be thrown around and manhandled.” A wildness takes over her eyes.
“Fuck, baby.”
“Fuck baby is right.” She leans into me. “Do you know what I want right this second? I want to ride your cock.” She nibbles my neck. “I want to sink down onto you. I want to make you feel good.”
“Kylie,” I groan, struggling.
She licks a path to my ear and breathes into it, sending a rush straight to my dick. “I want you to watch where we’re joined. I want you to see me taking you in. I want you to remember that.”
I push her back so I can see her face and grasp her cheeks. “Baby, I can feel you even when I’m not inside you. You crawl through every vein, seize every part and own almost every thought.”
“Then let me have you,” she whispers, her fingers playing in my hair. “Let me have you out here. It’s been years since we’ve made love in this place. And tonight, I want to be the one to make love to you. I want to do things to you. I want to take care of you.”
I swallow roughly. How do I turn that down? I’d be an idiot to say no to my wife. And trust me I’ll never say no to her again. There’s nothing better than watching Kylie take me. Nothing in this world could ever compare to making love to my wife.
I smile, a salacious grin which she immediately sees. I watch as it elicits a tremble. “You never have to ask to have me. I’m yours anywhere and anytime. Let’s play a game first though.”
That piques her curiosity. “Okay.”
“Ten questions. First answer that comes to your mind. Every question you answer, I’ll lose a piece of clothing.”
She smiles, her eyes twinkling. “I like this game.”
“When was the last time we made love?”
“The night before last,” she says.
“Mmm… right. It was a little quick, don’t you think?”
“It was, but we were in a hurry,” she says, unbuttoning my shirt.
“Well there’s no hurry now.”
“No, there’s not.”
“What’s our favorite thing to do together?”
She giggles. “I’d say each other.” She pulls off my shirt. “But I think you mean an actual hobby. Swimming in the lake, taking out the jet skis, and the boat.”
“Ding, ding, ding.” I smile, removing my belt.
She bites her bottom lip. “I’m hot.”
“Do you need help with this?” I finger the hem of her dress.
“God, Cooper, I love and hate your version of foreplay. I’m aching.”
“And I’m still hungry,”
She looks at me, her face transforming. She gets up and takes her dress off in one quick flip, tosses her shoes aside, and stands there looking sexy as sin in pink lace underwear. My muscles flex and itch to take her. To pin her down and keep her hands locked in mine while I pound her over and over, hearing her screams pierce the night air.
“Get up,” she orders.
I chuckle. “I love it when you take charge.”
“You never let me take charge.” She pouts, bending to remove my shoes. Then, faster than I can blink, she removes my boxer briefs and pants. I stand before her hungry gaze, my cock thick and hot for her.
“Do you want to know what I see?”
I nod, letting her have her moment.
“I see the man of my dreams. A blonde-haired, green-eyed man with a body of sin. You’re amazing. I crave every inch of you.” She moves around me, dragging her fingers across my middle. “These abs make my mouth water.”
Her tongue snakes along the ridges of my torso. I clench my fists, suppressing the urge to grab her hair and bring her mouth to mine. After she’s done licking and kissing, she steps back and shimmies her panties down while giving me a coy smile. She fingers the front clasp of her bra and unhooks it. Her hands go to her pink nipples. I’m entranced by her naked body. Every part of me aches, vibrates and hums.
“Touch your cock,” she orders, breathless.
I stroke myself, watching her play with her breasts. Her fingers gracefully skip down her body and dip into her wet pussy. She groans as she watches my hand play with my dick. We’re both hungry. I pump slowly as an ache builds, and a low growl rumbles from my chest.
“Lay down, Cooper,” she breathes.
I do what she says, reminding myself that tonight’s for her. This is for her. Once I’m flat on my back, she crawls over me, positioning her pussy over my cock.
“Fuck, Kylie…” My voice shakes with pure fucking need. “Take me, baby, before I change my mind, flip your ass over and take you.”
She grins, her face wild and sexy. I feel the heat pulse from her body. She slides down over me, and we both groan. I push up on my elbows to watch her sink up and down over my dick. I watch her take me hungrily. I move my hips with hers, keeping my hands to myself while she splays hers across my chest. We stare at our connection, both taken by how perfect we look together. I hear her purr as her pussy clenches my length. Her hair hangs over her shoulders and down her breasts.
“You’re so beautiful,” I say hoarsely. “I can’t get enough of you.”
She groans, picking up her pace. I feel my release coming like an out-of-control car on the interstate. It’s barreling toward me so fast I can’t stop it. Her pace becomes maddening as she rides me into heaven. Her own release is on the cusp. She looks up from where we’re joined, and the love in her eyes pushes me over. I roar, grab her hips, and pound up into her mercilessly. She screams out my name into the moonlight sky. After we come down, she sags on top of me, and I hold her close.
“Jeez, that was hot,” she says.
I laugh. “Our little game made it two questions before you devoured me.”
She lifts her head off my chest and blushes. “I’m not good at waiting.”
I kiss her nose. “Champagne now?”
“Yeah, I’m parched.”
I move her off me gently, and grab the bottle and glasses. I pop it open, pour some bubbly, and hand a glass to her.
“I love this place,” she murmurs, closing her eyes as a breeze whips through her hair. “When’s the last time you came out here?”
“It’s been a long time. You were about six months pregnant with Kayla. I came out to fish and think.”
“And you haven’t been back since?”
“No.”
“Why?” she asks.
“When things got hard, it was too painful to be out here. You’re here all over this place. Everywhere I look, I see you, feel you.”
“I’m so—”
I place my finger against her lips to hush her. “No, remember? No more. Tonight is about fresh starts, about a new beginning for us. Let’s toast.” I lift my glass.
She smiles. “Have I told you how much I love you? Thank you for this. I’m grateful.”
“You’re welcome, sweet girl. I was thinking back the other day. So much of what happened could’ve been avoided if I had just opened my mouth and told you what I was thinking. Pride held me back,” I whisper.
“But here we are,” she whispers back. “Naked, holding champagne, and toasting new beginnings.”
I laugh at the naked part. “Yeah, here we are. Now for this toast.”
I hold up my glass. She tilts hers toward mine and nods. I look at my glorious wife and think of all I want to say to her, all I want to give to her.
“To us,” I say. “To moving forward. To starting again and learning along the way. To making things up to you through my actions and not my words. To loving you through the good and bad. To being the man I promised I’d be. To forgiveness and love. To new beginnings and putting the past behind us. I love you, Kylie. I’m a better man with you by my side. You give me wings and help me fly. You are my today and tomorrow, my beginning and end. The reason I wake up in the morning and the last thought I think of before I go to bed. I pledge to live my life to see you happy, to watch you be the woman you want to be, and to make sure all your dreams come true. I’ve loved you through the bad, and I can’t wait to love you through the good. Here’s to our future, which will be better because we’ve learned and grown from our mistakes. To us, to new beginnings, and new adventures.”